History RuleOfCool / WalkingWithDinosaurs

*** Though it was mentioned in the narration as a "13-meter giant", so it's possible that the writers simply felt that having to add onto that the explicit statement that it was the largest flying vertebrate ever would just be [[ViewersAreMorons insulting the viewer's intelligence]].

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*** Though it was mentioned in the narration as a "13-meter giant", so it's possible that the writers simply felt that having to add onto that the explicit statement that it was the largest flying vertebrate ever would just be [[ViewersAreMorons insulting the viewer's intelligence]].intelligence.

*** ''Dinofelis'' as a specialized australopitecine killer, being [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome later driven back]] by a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming concerted effort]] of the [[CowardlyLion australopitecine group]]. This is a showcase of Bob Brain's book ''The Hunters or the Hunted?'', where he argued that ''Dinofelis'' preyed mainly on primates and that its extinction happened when hominids got too smart and turned the tables on it. However, there are no australopithecine fossils with ''Dinofelis'' bites - there are with leopard bites, but leopards are considerably smaller and they are still around, and also a later hominid species with bites of ''Megantereon'', a sabertoothed cat smaller than ''Dinofelis''.[[note]]A study of calcium isotopes, though far less conclusive, found that their sample of ''Dinofelis'' had the results expected for an animal that fed solely on grass-eaters like ungulates, while the ones for ''Megantereon'', leopard and hyena were compatible with predation of omnivores like primates.[[/note]]*** The early scene with the male ''Australopithecus'' knuckle-walking and waddling, for no real reason than to dramatically get up when the narrator says "this ape walks upright".

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*** ''Dinofelis'' as a specialized australopitecine killer, being [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome later driven back]] by a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming concerted effort]] of the [[CowardlyLion australopitecine group]]. This is a showcase of Bob Brain's book ''The Hunters or the Hunted?'', where he argued that ''Dinofelis'' preyed mainly on primates and that its extinction happened when hominids got too smart and turned the tables on it. However, there are no australopithecine fossils with ''Dinofelis'' bites - there bites. There are australopithecines with leopard bites, but leopards are considerably smaller and they are still around, and also a later hominid species with bites of ''Megantereon'', a sabertoothed cat smaller than ''Dinofelis''.[[note]]A ''Dinofelis''. A study of using calcium isotopes, though far less not completely conclusive, found that their sample of ''Dinofelis'' had the results expected for of an animal that fed solely on grass-eaters like ungulates, while the ones for of ''Megantereon'', leopard and hyena fossils were compatible with predation of omnivores like primates.[[/note]]primates.*** It is also unlikely that ''Dinofelis'', being the largest predator around, would climb trees carrying its prey like a leopard, given that leopards do this to keep their meal safe from larger predators like lions (who have ''Dinofelis''' size, and don't climb trees).*** The early scene with the male ''Australopithecus'' knuckle-walking and waddling, for no real reason other than to dramatically get up rise when the narrator says "this ape walks upright".''upright''".

*** The pack's younger females testing their hunting abilities on a ''Doedicurus'', a car-sized glyptodont with a flail-like tail. Surely there wasn't a less dangerous candidate?

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*** The pack's younger females testing their hunting abilities on a ''Doedicurus'', a car-sized glyptodont with a flail-like tail. Surely there wasn't [[BullyingADragon a less dangerous candidate?candidate]]?

**** To be fair, the narration makes a point of mentioning that, because ''Postosuchus'''s hide was so tough, the ''Coelophysis'' used their narrow snouts to pick at the meat ''underneath'' the hide (which was accessible through the gaps in the armor), essentially eating ''Postosuchus'' from the inside out.

**** Actually, skip that bit. It turns out ''Basilosaurus'' was actually a shallow-water specialist and the real error is the fact it was driven there by starvation, rather than living there its entire life. In fact its fossils have been found in El Fayum. The nonexistent inability to hunt in shallow water was put to make the situation more desperate for the protagonist, but in RealLife the shallows would have been where it had its greatest advantage.

** The special was a two-parter, the other episode being ''The Giant Claw''. Not ''that'' TheGiantClaw, but it also centers around a freaky-looking animal, the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Therizinosaurus]]'', the famed [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]-Film/EdwardScissorhands-{{Wolverine}}-osaurus. It turns out it was actually a gentle herbivore, but not before slapping a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Tarbosaurus]]'' (the Asian "twin" of ''T. rex'') right in the face with those (arguably fragile) claws. Actual (albeit naked) ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]''s are also included, though they are easily scared away by the film crew.

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** The special was a two-parter, the other episode being ''The Giant Claw''. Not ''that'' TheGiantClaw, Film/TheGiantClaw, but it also centers around a freaky-looking animal, the ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeBirdlikeTheropods Therizinosaurus]]'', the famed [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy Krueger]]-Film/EdwardScissorhands-{{Wolverine}}-osaurus. It turns out it was actually a gentle herbivore, but not before slapping a ''[[UsefulNotes/PrehistoricLifeLargeTheropods Tarbosaurus]]'' (the Asian "twin" of ''T. rex'') right in the face with those (arguably fragile) claws. Actual (albeit naked) ''[[StockDinosaursTrueDinosaurs Velociraptor]]''s are also included, though they are easily scared away by the film crew.

*** Setting the [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs obligatory]] ''Smilodon''-centric episode not in the La Brea Tar Pits like [[SmallReferencePools every other documentary]], but in South America just after the Great American Interchange. This allowed them to feature the biggest sabertoothed cat ever (''S. populator'', rather than the stock ''S. fatalis''), the biggest ground sloth (''Megatherium''), the biggest and best defended glyptodont (''Doedicurus'') and the weirdest ungulate in the Western hemisphere at that time (''Macrauchenia''). Note that ''Smilodon'' is the only northern immigrant featured while every other taxon originates in South America. If the episode was set before Panama the closest looking thing to ''Smilodon'' would be the less impressive ''[[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110925202917/dinosaurs/images/5/51/Thylacosmilus_lentis.jpg Thylacosmilus]]''. And RealLife ''S. populator'' probably hunted more often other immigrants like horses, llamas and young mastodonts, and worried more about defending its kills from hyena-like dire wolves and the giant bear ''Arctotherium'' than about terror birds and ground sloths.

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*** Setting the [[StockDinosaursNonDinosaurs obligatory]] ''Smilodon''-centric episode not in the La Brea Tar Pits like [[SmallReferencePools every other documentary]], but in South America just after the Great American Interchange.Interchange (stated, but all of the species in the episode except the birds had not even evolved yet when the episode was set, they are modern animals). This allowed them to feature the biggest sabertoothed cat ever (''S. populator'', rather than the stock ''S. fatalis''), the biggest ground sloth (''Megatherium''), the biggest and best defended glyptodont (''Doedicurus'') and the weirdest ungulate in the Western hemisphere at that time (''Macrauchenia''). Note that ''Smilodon'' is the only northern immigrant featured while every other taxon originates in South America. If the episode was set before Panama the closest looking thing to ''Smilodon'' would be the less impressive ''[[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110925202917/dinosaurs/images/5/51/Thylacosmilus_lentis.jpg Thylacosmilus]]''. And RealLife ''S. populator'' probably hunted more often other immigrants like horses, llamas and young mastodonts, and worried more about defending its kills from hyena-like dire wolves and the giant bear ''Arctotherium'' than about terror birds and ground sloths.

*** ''Gastornis'' being portrayed as the apex predator of Eocene Europe, plus the implication that flightless birds were the dominant predators all over the world in that time. Even the partidaries of ''Gastornis'' being carnivorous agreed that it was not built for speed and had to be a strict ambush predator, but the show's version sprints after its prey all the time. Other predators like creodont mammals and running crocodiles are ignored.

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*** ''Gastornis'' being portrayed as the apex predator of Eocene Europe, plus the implication that flightless birds were the dominant predators all over the world in that time. Even the partidaries of ''Gastornis'' being carnivorous (and this has been disproved) agreed that it was not built for speed and had to be a strict ambush predator, but the show's version sprints after its prey all the time. Other predators like creodont mammals and especially running crocodiles are ignored.

**** Actually, skip that bit. It turns out ''Basilosaurus'' was actually a shallow-water specialist and the real error is the fact it was driven there by starvation, rather than living there its entire life. In fact its fossils have been found in El Fayum.

to:

**** Actually, skip that bit. It turns out ''Basilosaurus'' was actually a shallow-water specialist and the real error is the fact it was driven there by starvation, rather than living there its entire life. In fact its fossils have been found in El Fayum. The nonexistent inability to hunt in shallow water was put to make the situation more desperate for the protagonist, but in RealLife the shallows would have been where it had its greatest advantage.

** Most animals appear oversized because of RuleOfCool.RuleOfCool (Megalodon, however, was probably undersized and it was also severely underrated)** Inverted with the fact they did not show the other giant marine predator from Megalodon't ocean (and boy there are A LOT of giant marine predators in that time, much more than the Cretaceous)

**** Actually, skip that bit. It turns out Basilosaurus was actually a shallow-water specialist and the real error is the fact it was driven there by starvation, rather than living there its entire life.

to:

**** Actually, skip that bit. It turns out Basilosaurus ''Basilosaurus'' was actually a shallow-water specialist and the real error is the fact it was driven there by starvation, rather than living there its entire life.life. In fact its fossils have been found in El Fayum.

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